Live Like Legends
by GazingUpAtTheMoon
Summary: In which Octavia inadvertently makes her brother a Grounder legend. (Written because I'm still bitter over the fact Clarke has a lot of fame/infamy for the things she has done and Bellamy does not though he was at her side every single time) (Octavia, implied Bellamy/Clarke/Bellarke, Miller, Kane)


It starts off as an accident really.

Octavia could care less about popularity, fame, and all that entails. All she wants to do is survive, to lead as best she can, and make sure there isn't a mass killing spree before their five years are up in the bunker. (Seriously, how does Kane do it? Abbey? Clarke? Bellamy? It's _exhausting_ )

But somehow, beyond her comprehension, she gets involved with _gossip_ and accidentally makes her brother a legend.

Go figure.

It's not like Octavia sets out to make sure the name "Bellamy Blake" is known by every person in the bunker. She's sure Bellamy could care less as well. And yet, it happens.

"Wanheda," A grounder whispers dramatically, drawing the rapt attention of the circle of younglings in front of him. "The Commander of Death. By her hand, and her hand alone, she took the lives of every man, woman, and child of the Mountain. No longer do they breathe or plague our world with their evil. All because of Wanheda."

She should have kept her mouth shut. Because, really, who cared who was given the kills of the Mountain Men? Octavia knew Clarke sure didn't like to be credited with it. But, who knows. Maybe she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe the endless list of problems to fix finally were taking their toll. But Octavia found herself marching up to the group, her breath short and her cheeks faintly red.

"It wasn't _just_ Wanheda," She snaps, and everyone seems to straighten at her mere presence.

"Oh?" The older grounder responds, not impolitely.

"My brother," Octavia states firmly. "Bellamy Blake. He was there right next to Cl-Wanheda. He killed the Mountain Men too. He infiltrated their ranks, lived among them, and saved Skaikru."

"Bellamy Blake?" A young girl echoes.

"Yes, so get the story straight. Wanheda _and_ Bellamy Blake ended the Mountain Men."

That's how it starts at least.

Stuck in the bunker, for _five_ years, well, there isn't much to do. So story telling becomes a big thing. And the demise of the Mountain Men is a favorite. It spreads like wildfire, that Heda Octavia claims her brother, Bellamy Blake, killed them along with Wanheda. There isn't much to refute it either. No Grounders had been there and it had been Lexa originally who advertised that Clarke had been the lone victor.

And Lexa wasn't around anymore.

So now, when the story was told, the only addition was that Wanheda and Bellamy Blake killed the Mountain Men. Anyone who said differently would have been opposing Heda Octavia herself.

It wasn't as if Octavia truly cared. It wasn't like she'd challenge anyone to a duel if they said otherwise. But no one ever did say otherwise, so it stuck.

Miller raised his eyebrows at her one day. "Trying to make your brother a celebrity?"

Miller was one of the few people of Skaikru who would actually approach and talk to her like a normal person. It didn't bother her much, seeing as _her_ people hadn't exactly always been _her_ people. They had locked her in prison, forced her mother to keep her under the floor, and then she had only allowed 100 of them to survive in the bunker. They trusted her more than any other Grounder but where still wary of her. And of all of the clans, Skaikru seemed to have the most difficulty integrating with the other Grounders. The people Octavia felt most comfortable with. Well, them and Trikru and Azgeda but that was another story all together.

Miller, though, part of the 100-the group of people Octavia actually felt akin too-had no problem speaking to her like she was just any other girl. Not Heda. Not the girl under the floor. Just Octavia. And, truth be told, the two basked in each other's company. There wasn't much people left who understood the things they had gone through. There wasn't much of the original 100 left for that matter. And those they were closest to where in space, far away with no form of communication.

More often than not, they were the only people they could talk about.

"As if," Octavia scoffed. "And Bellamy could give less than two shits about being famous."

Miller smirked. "And yet, they call him Hoshripa."

Octavia's eyebrows rose at that. "Quiet Killer?"

"Seeing as no one knew about his part with the Mountain Men till you enlightened them, they see him as a killer who seeks no glory. Quiet."

"That's stupid."

"Hey, you started it, not me."

She wish she hadn't. She just want to correct them, is all. Perhaps her misgivings with Clarke hadn't been as resolved as she thought. Maybe that was why she felt the need to interject, to make people believe Clarke wasn't as untouchable, all powerful, as they made her out to be.

And then it happens again.

"If Wanheda was here, I'd more gladly speak to _her_."

They're having one of their weekly meetings between clan leaders, and per usual, they're going terrible. No one ever agrees to anything, everyone is always pointing fingers at other clans for using too much supplies or taking up too much space, and it's a miracle if a sword or blade of some sort isn't brandished in someone's face.

As of the moment, they're talking about certain locations in the bunker and who they belong to- _again_ -and the leader of Delfikru isn't giving a crap about what Kane has to say.

"Wanheda is _not_ here," Kane grits between clenched teeth. "As you're well aware. I am Chancellor of Skaikru and these matters are to be discussed with me."

"Wanheda lived in our world long before you," The clan leader continues, "She knows our ways and customs. You are an unfit leader, you know nothing of how to negotiate and speak with us."

Of course it's untrue, and everyone in the room knows it. The Grounders have a plethora of misgivings about Skairku but Kane's leadership is not one of them. He has proved himself, time and time again, and Octavia can practically hear everyone's eyes roll. Indra was fingering the sword at her hip as they did.

"Enough," Octavia growled. And when she spoke, everyone listened. She didn't think herself the best of leaders. Sure, she was doing well enough, no one was dead yet, but she still felt well suited to the role of soldier rather than leader. So, in these weekly meetings, she always tried to let the clan leaders figure things out without her interjection. Until times like this.

"Wanheda," Octavia began, "Was _not_ the only leader of Skairkru when they first came to this world. Bel-Hoshripa, was also the leader."

The new name for her brother feels bitter on her tongue but she forces it out. Grounders appreciate titles more than proper names, and while she is Heda she also hears Skairipa still whispered among some.

"Hoshripa trusted Chancellor Kane to lead, so you will as well."

Of course, Octavia could have pointed out that Clarke had trusted Kane as well. That Abbey, Clarke's mother, was currently betrothed to Kane as well. That would have ended the conversation just as easily. And yet, _again_ , Octavia heard Clarke being bolstered up once again and her brother shafted to the side. Bellamy lead the 100 just as much as Clarke and it wasn't fair that no one knew that.

And so Bellamy becomes _more_ famous.

No one speaks a word of Wanheda anymore without the name Hoshripa following close after it.

Kane is amused by it, as well as Abbey, and Miller is just smug. Octavia ignores them all.

They had all forgot, though, with fame often comes infamy.

No one can forget the killing of over 300 Grounders sent to protect Skaikru and killed by those exact same people. It ones of the main reason Grounders are so wary of them. And Niylah certainly can be expected to keep her mouth shut on Bellamy's part in it when everyone begins treating him like some legend.

Niylah isn't exactly unkind when she spreads word that Bellamy was part of the massacre. She wasn't even trying to spread word at all. All she wanted was for people to know was that he wasn't a god, not Heda's magically lethal brother come from the shadows. That he had hurt her people- _their_ people-and such a sin needs to be acknowledged.

Octavia doesn't correct or threaten anyone who speaks about it. It's the truth, after all.

 _(And it lead to Lincoln's death. Bellamy lead to Lincoln's death)_

Octavia tries not to let her mind wander that way though it often tries. She had forgiven her brother for his mistakes, she loved him often more than life itself and that was that. She couldn't wait to see him again. Yet Octavia was never good at banishing the demons in her head.

But people are fickle things, Grounders included. They accept Bellamy's horror stories and still fantasize over his heroic ones.

Octavia doesn't know how to feel about it so she just doesn't.

Then there are the stories of the City of Light. Surprisingly, it's not Octavia this time to enlighten people on Bellamy's part in Ali's downfall.

"We all took a stance," Miller proclaims, raising his glass of moonshine. Skaikru loves him, he's a guard, he's the son of a respected guard, and just an overall good guy. Grounders like him as well for his honesty, though blunt, and his noble ways. "Wanheda was going to take down Ali but Hoshripa lead us in protecting her."

Stories of the City of Light and Ali aren't always the safest of ones. People still feel guilty over the wrongs they committed under her influence and even fewer still feel as if being under her influence had been the better choice. People grow silent, uncomfortable, and the topic is widely ignored. But tonight, everyone's belly is full with moonshine (not like Monty and Jasper could make it, never like they could make it) and in amicable moods. Tonight, they want to hear about the death of the evil piece of female tech that had fogged their minds.

Miller was more than happy to oblige.

"Wanheda conquered the City of Light!" Miller grinned, earning a round of applause. "But Hosripa had protected Wanheda. Hoshripa _always_ protects Wanheda but we don't have to get into that now. He saved her life, and yours! He ordered no one be killed while Ali was controlling them, since we all know it wasn't anyone's fault."

And so another notch goes in Bellamy's belt.

* * *

"What the hell is a Hoshripa?"

Octavia is used to name after six years, but coming out of her brother's mouth, it gives her a start.

"What?"

"Hoshripa," Bellamy growls, aggravation clear on his face. "People keep calling me it and I don't know what the hell it means."

Next to him, Clarke unsuccessfully hides a giggle behind her hand.

Octavia learned in less than a minute that Clarke hadn't gone to space with the others and had been living with another nightblood for six years. And yet, within that minute, she saw quite clearly how Bellamy and Clarke would not move no more than three steps away from each other since being reunited.

Separation apparently does make the heart grow fonder.

"Quiet Killer," Clarke supplies.

Bellamy doesn't look any less aggravated by the translation.

"I may have talked about you in the bunker," Octavia finally says. "Miller too."

"Talked about me _how_?"

At that moment, a group of kids rush up to them, their eyes bright and their mouths agape. They point and whisper at both Clarke and Bellamy, laughing too. It only seems to infuriate her brother further though Octavia and Clarke can't stop grinning.

"Wanheda and Hoshripa!" A boy with dirty blonde hair exclaims.

"Are you bonded?" A girl with braided black hair inquires.

"Bonded?" Bellamy echoes.

Octavia smirks. "Married, she means."

A vibrant red stains both Bellamy and Clarke's cheeks and they look anywhere but at each other.

"The stories make it sound like you love her," The little girl continues, looking pointedly at Bellamy. "I mean, you save her all the time! You have to love her! And Heda says you have both been in the sky this whole time, all alone! You must be bonded!"

"O I'm going to kill you," Bellamy growls so only she can hear.

She hadn't felt less threatened in her whole life.

Clarke reaches for Bellamy's hand, entwining their fingers. Octavia notices, with a bit of satisfaction, he doesn't resist. "No, we're not," Clarke smiles politely. "But we'd love to tell you some stories too."

The kids all cheer at that and run away, apparently to gather some of their other friends to spread the news.

"You know, if you want them to believe you're _not_ bonded, you're going to actually have to act like it." Octavia looks pointedly at their hands.

Though they blush, they don't pull away.

"O, you have some explaining to do."

"More than happy to, brother."


End file.
